I Traded In My Bikini For A Hijab — Day 1

I’m about as Pennsylvania Dutch as they come, blonde hair, blue eyes, with ancestors that came over on the Mayflower. So when it comes to women in head-coverings, I’ve always been the observer, not the observed. But that all changed the day I decided to write a book about world religions. In my book, No Fear: My Tale of Hijabs, Witchcraft Circles & the Cross, I’m not just researching religions, I’m living them.

image by Anne Garboczi Evans

I live in a 90% European-Caucasian middle class suburb of Denver. So the last time I saw someone dressed in Islamic attire in my town was — never. Fortunately, you can buy anything on Ebay.

My hijab came in the mail at 1 pm today. The blue head-covering consists of two pieces of knit fabric roughly resembling large socks. Then there is the abaya, the unfitted, plain-colored robe mandated by…